The SEC West is best. The East is least.

That’s the consensus inside and outside SEC territory. And it’s true. At least since Urban Meyer last’s conference title at Florida in 2008.

The West, which has dominated inter-divisional play over the last decade, is 8-1 against the East this season. The East’s lone victory, Florida over Ole Miss, was not in an annual game, but instead in a rotation game.

Is that a problem? Should the schedule be altered to bring about more parity in the records in inter-divisional play?

How important is it for Tennessee to play Alabama on the third or fourth Saturday in October? Can Georgia live without playing Auburn every year? How about the annual Swamp Bowl between Florida and LSU?

It’s hard to argue that Alabama, LSU and Auburn have been the SEC’s top three programs over the past seven seasons.

Traditional East powers Florida and Tennessee have struggled. Georgia can’t get over the hump. From the bottom, Ole Miss and Mississippi State in the West have pushed themselves onto the national stage. Over in the East, Vanderbilt and Kentucky have remained doormats.

The past two seasons, only East champion Missouri, which didn’t play Alabama, LSU or Auburn, swept its two games against the East.

Though the West is obviously stronger — at the top and all the way to the bottom — scheduling has played a role in the inter-divisional records.

Let’s look at the SEC’s annual inter-divisional matchups.

Alabama leads Tennessee, 52-38-7 in the series. More important, the Tide has won the last nine.

Florida leads LSU, 31-28-3. Again, more important, LSU has won five of the last six.

Ole Miss leads Vanderbilt, 50-38-2. This rivalry is likely to get more lopsided. The Rebels, dramatically improved under Hugh Freeze, have won three straight.

Mississippi State leads Kentucky, 22-21. The Bulldogs are on a seven-game winning streak.

The lone exception to the trend is Georgia vs. Auburn. The teams are tied, 55-55-8. Georgia, the East’s most-consistent team over the last decade, has won seven of the last nine.

The other annual games were new in 2014: Texas A&M beat South Carolina. Missouri beat Arkansas last season.

Imagine how different annual matchups might affect the records. How about this?

Alabama vs. Vanderbilt
LSU vs. Kentucky
Auburn vs. South Carolina
Ole Miss vs. Missouri
Arkansas vs. Tennessee
Texas A&M vs. Georgia
Mississippi State vs. Florida

If these were annual games, the East would stand a good chance to hold its own. Alabama, LSU and Auburn would get their regular victories, but East teams Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Mizzou would stand a good chance to win.

Eliminating the annual games in favor of a true rotation — the fairest way to determine division winners, by the way — has been rejected over the years. Tennessee wants to play Alabama. Georgia wants to play Auburn.

Believe it or not, Florida wants to play LSU, though LSU has indicated a preference for a true rotation, knowing it would help its national title chances.

Make no mistake — the West is stronger than the East. In a true, two-game rotation, the West would dominate — at least in 2015.

But the East’s traditional powers, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, aren’t helping the division’s status by losing annual games to the West’s elite trio.